Plastic packages are popular for storing food products and other items. Recloseable packages that can be securely closed and reopened are particularly popular due to their ability to maintain freshness of the food stored in the package and/or to minimize leakage into and out of the package. Thus, recloseable packages are very common, especially in the food industry. Recloseable packages are typically made to be recloseable via the use of a recloseable feature such as a resealable adhesive seal or a recloseable zipper. Recloseable zippers can be opened and closed either by pressure or by the use of an auxiliary slider mechanism. These packages are used one at a time by consumers and large numbers of these packages are also used by businesses to package items that are then sold to consumers. An example of a business that uses a large number of these packages is a food producer and packer. For example, nuts, candy, snacks, salt, cheese, other food and non-food products can be packed in these packages by form, fill and seal machines and sold to consumers.
For a variety of reasons, including difficulty in closing the zipper, some consumers prefer an easier way to open and close the zippers on these packages. As a result, zipper packages with the slider to open and close the zipper have become popular with consumers. Product manufacturers, however, have rarely used the zipper with slider in their form, fill and seal machines because there has not been a way to assemble and accumulate the zippers with sliders in a configuration that can be easily and quickly fed to the form, fill and seal machines. A need therefore exists for an efficient method and apparatus for providing products within a recloseable package. Additionally, a need exists for a fastener with slider thereon that can easily and efficiently be used in the manufacture of recloseable bags.